Weekend Round-Up aka Quick Takes (11)

Well I am too late to do a Quick Takes this week this post will be in the same fashion. This weekend was full of fun stuff and many decisions made.

1. 

Friday

Making play dough and cupcakes for my goddaughter's 2nd birthday! Here are the chocolate strawberry cupcakes with hidden zucchini in them, yup I like to sneak my vegetables in.
 

 




                           

                                   Mmmmm...

                                       

 

                           

                           Yup, they tasted as good as they looked!

                                       

I am going to use this same recipe and this frosting recipe for a mini-cake for my friend L's wedding at the end of the month. The groom's sister is gluten free as well as one of the priests plus us so they asked me where they could get a gluten free cake, naturally I volunteered to make it. I am so excited! 

 

2.

Saturday

The day of the party I put the finishing touches on the cupcakes and then JJ and I went early to help set up.

 

JJ took a picture of me in my fav. hat before we left for the party. I am thinking "Hurry up we are already late!" I am so glad he slows me down to enjoy life!

 

 

My goddaughter K's older sister M was a big help in getting the decorations and centerpieces up and she is only 4. Then I got to help the girls get ready for the party which was surprisingly a breeze. I thought getting a 2yr. and 4yr. old dressed and ready would be more of a struggle but they were so cooperative, I thought "Wow I must have the touch! I am the child whisperer!" As I was patting myself on the back for a great job done my friend T informed me they usually cooperate when getting dressed because they like to get all dolled up. Whomp whomp there goes my career as the next "Super Nanny". Then JJ entertained the girls in the bounce house while I watched because I would not be caught in a bounce house ever. Constant unstable motion + me = not pretty. I realize that I should have taken pictures of the party instead of just the cupcakes and me but I left the camera and iPad at home plus I am pretty sure my friend T is not OK with pictures of her daughters on the internet. By the end of the day JJ and I were tired and we slept so well that night. I guess the recipe for a good night's sleep is exhaustion. 

3.

 

Sunday

We started Sunday off by going to the LA Arboretum, one of our favorite places. The peacocks were out in full bloom and we had fun taking pictures. Then we went to Latin Mass which was beautiful as usual. We had a coupon for a free meal at our local diner so we went out on a dinner date. We took a good amount of pictures at the Arboretum, we usually forget the camera but we remembered it this time.

Isn't he gorgeous? This is why no one ever takes a picture of the girl peacocks.




 

Peacock feather JJ found.

 

Serious modeling picture.

 

Me @ the top of the waterfall after climbing all those stairs.

 

Us @ the base of the waterfall. The sun was in our eyes.

I took a picture of the girl peacock, I felt bad for her with all the attention on the males. She is good looking, right?


4.

We have been making some major decisions lately. It was hard to finalize the decision and give ourselves a more concrete time frame. It feels so freeing though to know that I will not be on the TTC train forever. I am so glad that NaPro exists and if we want to pick it back up again we can. It looks like my body is still healing and/or not cooperating with me because this cycle is so out of whack. I am not sure if I am still pre-peak or post-peak which is tough because I have no idea what to do about progesterone. I am a practitioner and I can't figure it out. Bah.   

 

5.

 

We decided to try and rent a house near our church. We saw it for rent and really wanted to go for it so we are. We are waiting to hear back from the guy. It is 2bdrm 1ba with a back yard and they are OK with us having a small/medium sized dog. Most of the places we have been looking at this past 6 months are not OK with pets which takes them off our list. The house is in a nice area so I am sure they are considering other applicants. Did I mention that it is within walking distance of our church? If you could send up a prayer on our behalf on this intention I would really appreciate it! We are trying to have detachment but we also have seen so many places and we really like this one the best. If we don't get it then God must have something really spectacular planned. When our landlord heard that we were thinking of moving she offered to lower our rent, not by much, if we would sign a 2yr. lease. I don't know that I would want to stay here another 2yrs. especially with our upstairs neighbors. They are great people but their kids run around a lot which we understand but it can be annoying at times. We also just want a back yard so we can have a garden and I want to paint a room so badly I am tired of white walls. Hopefully we will hear back from the guy soon so we can move on!

 

 

6.

 

Thanks for your prayers! JJ went back to work on Friday! He worked on a small project Friday and today and will be starting on a huge project on Wednesday. Thank you Jesus and the intercession of St. Joseph.

 

 

7.

 

I am trying to decide on a profile picture for my sidebar. I was thinking the one close-up that is above or the one with me near the waterfall.  JJ likes the head shot one but I don't know, is it too close to my face? I didn't erase it from the camera which means I like it but I like the one with the waterfall too because of the background. Hmmm, what do you think?